Surgeons have used laparoscopic surgery to perform a variety of procedures. By manipulating laparoscopes and video telescopes, surgeons gain a visualization of the abdominal cavity while minimizing tissue and muscle injury that normally accompanies conventional invasive procedures.
To create a sufficient area for the introduction of a laparoscope and other instruments, the abdominal wall is first raised from the organs enclosed in the abdominal cavity. Separation is conventionally attained by pressurizing the abdominal cavity with an insufflation gas. The presence of artificial gas in the peritoneal cavity to achieve exposure during laparoscopy is referred to as pneumoperitoneum.
When maintaining pneumoperitoneum, it is desirable on occasion to infuse the insufflation gas into the cavity at a rate typically above 20 liters per minute. However, achieving this rate is often difficult. One of the primary limitations in providing higher insufflation gas flow rates are the constraints placed upon the insufflation equipment by common industry practice, efficacy requirements, and guidance documents issued by the United States Food and Drug Administration concerning issues such as push pressures, pressure duration, overshoot, and pressure relief. Insufflators normally are limited to a push pressure of about 45 to 55 millimeters of mercury. This limitation makes it difficult to infuse insufflation gas at the desired higher flow rates. Furthermore, the equipment associated with laparoscopic procedures such as luers, often restrict the infusion rate of insufflation gas.
Standardized luer lock connectors form secure, leak-free connections for the transfer of fluids or gasses between two devices or objects such as veress needles, trocars, syringes, or gas/fluid delivery systems. Although there are many luer lock connector sizes available, luer lock connections typically operate in the same way, and conform to International Organization of Standard (“ISO”) standards 594-1 or 594-2.
A luer lock connection typically includes two luer lock connectors, known as a male luer lock connector and a female luer lock connector. As shown in FIG. 1, a first luer lock connector 102 (also known as a male luer lock connector) dimensioned to conform to ISO standards 594-1 and 594-2 comprises a connector body 104 defining an interior region 106 bounded by a cylindrical side wall 108 and a base wall 110, and an extended central lumen 112 extending at least 7.5 mm (0.2953 of an inch) into the interior region 106. The connector body 104 further defines a channel 114 passing through the extended central lumen 112 and the connector body 102 at the base wall 110. The channel 114 allows a substance to flow into the channel 114 at the extended central lumen 112 and pass through the connector body 102 via the channel 114 in one embodiment, or pass through the connector body 102 via the channel 114 and out of the central lumen 112 in another embodiment.
As seen in FIG. 2, to establish a luer lock connection 101, a second luer lock connector 118 (also known as a female luer lock connector) is inserted into the interior region 106 of the first luer lock connector 102, causing a plurality of threads 116 on the cylindrical side wall 108 of the first luer lock connector 102 to engage lugs or a plurality of threads 120 on an exterior of the second luer lock connector 118. The engagement between the plurality of threads 116,120 of the first and second luer lock connectors 102, 188, draws the second luer lock connector 120 into the interior region 106 of the first luer lock connector 102 and draws the extended central lumen 112 into an open end 122 of the second luer lock connector 120 until the tapers of the first and second luer connectors 102, 120 are secured together.
Securing the first and second luer lock connectors 102,120 together provides a basic leak-free connection for a substance such as insufflation gas to flow through the luer lock connector. However, the leak-free connection comes at the cost of a reduction in the flow speed of the substance flowing through the luer lock connector and a buildup of pressure before the luer lock connection due to the taper of the male and female components. Therefore, it would be desirable to have a luer lock connection that provides a basic leak-free connection with less reduction in flow speed or a buildup of pressure.